New Teacher Things to Know Lesson

​Things to Know

Prairie South School Division 2022-2023​

Remember to read all of the questions before responding.

[You're going to hear me say "let's check it out" lots.]

Multiple Choice

Connect is...

• What you should do with your students...

• What you should do with your staff

• What you should do with your students' families

• Prairie South's resource hub.

• All of the above.

Connect

Link

(Pretty much) Everything is housed on Connect.

​

For the most part, many resources valuable to you will be found on the Learning section.​

Let's check it out!

Multiple Choice

The Weekly Communication or "Weekly Comm" is...

• A bulletin or newsletter available on PSSD's Facebook page.

• A weekly email sent out to all staff every week containing information and resources.

• An email sent to administrators to filter and send what they feel is most important to staff.

• The one time per week you are able to poke your head out of the classroom and say "sup" to your teacher neighbour across the hall.

Weekly Communication

​Link

The Weekly Comm comes out to everyone in the division via email on Thursday. Please make time to read it.

It includes upcoming events, classroom opportunities, resources, and division announcements.​

Let's check it out!

Multiple Choice

Large Scale Assessment occurs in all of the areas except...

• Writing

• Reading

• Science

• Math

Large Scale Assessment

(Division-Wide Data Collection)

​Link

Data is collected by teachers and submitted to the ministry and occur in the following grades and content areas:

​

Reading (F&P) - Grades 1,2,3

Writing - Grades 4,7,9

Math - ​Grades 2,5,8

This submission occurs through MSS and there are helper sheets available for this process.

Multiple Select

Guess the Acronym: PSSD

• Prioritize Student Success Daily.

• Please Stop Speaking Derek

• Prairie South School Division

• Prairie Spirit School Division

Multiple Choice

Guess the Acronym: ROA

• Record of Adaptations

• Recording of Assignments

• Resentment of Adults

• Recognition of Accumulations

Multiple Choice

Guess the Acronym: MSS

• My Sappy Story

• Minimum Satisfactory Service

• Memorable Summer Shenanigans

• My School Sask

Multiple Choice

Guess the Acronym: IIP

• International Intermediate People

• Inclusion and Intervention Plan

• Inclusivity and Involvement Program

• I Ingest Pickles

Acronym

​Link

There are many acronyms to learn. It's like learning a new language. Be patient with yourself and ask questions when you have them.

I have a "performance" available upon request.

Multiple Choice

Quarter 1, BLK 1, or Tri 1...

• Are the first reporting periods of the school year.

• Are interchangeable and mean the same thing regardless of the school you are at.

• Are new musicians originating from the Okanagan Valley

MSS and Reporting Periods

​MSS Helper Sheets

Your grades are inputted into MSS and the start of year reporting period dates are:

​Block 1                  Sep 01 – Oct 26

​Quarter 1             Sep 01 – Nov 07

Tri 1                       Sep 01 – Nov 18​ K-12 schools may work with both Quarter and Tri

​

You have prep days in your contract, some teachers try to us them around these dates to get their marks in.

(We'll also meet again in a couple of weeks to walk through how to do this together)​

Multiple Choice

Learning Opportunities...

• are scarce in this division.

• is a section of Connect that includes upcoming PDs to register for.

• Involves field trips.

Learning Opportunities

​Link

Come here to discover and register for PDs available in PSSD.

​

We would encourage you to take advantage of Learning Opportunities whenever you can. We work hard to keep it fresh, relevant, and evidence-based and it helps you network and connect with other educators across the division.​

Let's check it out! (And register ASAP)

Multiple Choice

The Reading Continuum...

• is an old document only relevant to English teachers.

• is a webpage full of resources showing a progression of instructional strategies and assessments to support your student readers.

• Is a textbook available for signout from the Prairie South LIbrary

Reading Continuum

​Link

The Reading Continuum includes research, skill-building strategies and assessments for reading instructions.

Let's check it out!

Multiple Select

The Learning Department consists of

• Speech and Language Pathologists & Assistants

• Learning Consultants (& Early Years and Career)

• Student Support Consultants

• Advocacy and Behaviour Support Consultants

• (Educational) Psychologists

​Learning Department

The Learning Department includes a variety of professionals to support you and your students in a variety of ways in your classroom.

​

Amanda Olson is the Superintendent of the Learning Department

Jenn Chan is the Curriculum Coordinator

Jen Montague is the Student Support Services Coordinator​

Please reach out to us if you have questions as you transition into Prairie South.

​Link

​4 Seasons of Reconciliation

Link

Please complete this if you haven't already - it is also available on the Learning Opportunities page.

Some people choose to work on this as a group.

Multiple Choice

This document (checklist) helps you prepare for the start of the school year

• "Recommended for you" section of Netflix, Disney+, Crave, Amazon Prime, etc.

• Teacher Start of Semester Prep Checklist

• The student school supply list.

​Start of Semester Prep Checklist

​Link

We will have an activity and opportunity to engage with this more after this.

Submit any recommended additions or questions you have at the conclusion of this activity.